Apple is the most technological and expensive corporation in the world. Last year Apple surpassed Microsoft corp.. For 10 years stocks have gone up almost by 4000%, the company sold 18.65 mln. Iphones, 4.69 mln. Ipads, 3.76 mln. MacBooks revenues of the company is $24,67 bln. So, what is the “root” of success of the corporation? The success is not the result of special fitments, sources of production or just prosperous locus. The success is in appealing leadership, talent and unusual ways of Human Resource Management.
In Apple corporative culture there is an idea that after finishing one task you immediately should begin to do one which is absolutely different from the first. And you know that you have to learn faster to do this and be able to master new instruments while doing the task. Employees in Apple work in many teams accomplishing separate task, without understanding the practical benefit and purpose.
During 25 years Apple has been following the philosophy called “lean - management”. It means that if the team acts in the “lead” conditions it will make it more innovative and productive.
“Culture of efficiency” is supported by 2 processes which are: operational processes and practices. For example, owning the stocks of company is a basic motivator which helps workers concentrate on the efficiency of company and its development.
Any superdividend program and programs of reward don’t take into consideration exertion or effort only final result. The company doesn’t celebrate intermediate stages, it celebrates the final result of production.
Lots of HR managers are proud of promoting such idea as “work/life balance”, but not in Apple corp. You will never find a term “balance” on the company pitrun web-site. The other way round, it makes clear that company is looking for extremely hard-working and devoted to work people. For one thing, the pit-run web-site says proudly: “It isn’t your lovely from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.”, “Every product made might have been achieved as a result of hard work. And you can find an easier job, but it isn’t your life position, do you? ”. And one more: “We are obsessed with making all details ideal. Leave your ties, bring your ideas”.
The majority of companies help their workforces to promote. The access of Apple is absolutely different. All responsibility is laid on the worker. Here is a conception “own their career” it was accepted in Apple by Kevin Sullivan. Board directors of Apple don’t support the promotion, in order to reduce career expectation, but they suppose that workers have the right for the continuous promotion. The board directors make sure that help in pit-run promotion weakens workforce assurance in their “power”. Workforces deprived of help are better searching for information in others functional and business parts. In the company where creativity and innovation are the substantial element of all automatic promotion in one functional direction can diminish the level of diverse thinking in the group.
Moreover, Apple is “sui generis” for having two dominant attributes in corporative culture: “performance” and “innovation”. The last one supposed to be the most important. Three factors are being moved the attribute “innovation”: permanent expectation of innovations, secrecy in producing and continuous brainstorming. The permanent expectation of innovations is moved by the history of the company, the chiefs of company prohibited using phrases like “it’s impossible”. During the process of “expectations” of innovations in to use, you can find the following motivating posters: “Think Differently”,” Imagine the Possibilities”,” Here’s to the crazy ones”, “The misfits. The rebels”, “Around here, changing the world just comes with the job description”.
The second critical driver is a process of developing the product. It is innovative process is interesting cause of not relying on the common model “ideation” – idea generation, but on the another model “iteration”.
Apple is famous for making many production projects using small groups of vendors, so called “10 to 3 to 1”. It means that 10 production groups design the same product. When the work is done independent experts choose 3 groups and after that it gives an additional task which helps to choose 1final product of a winner group.
The maniac idea of the company is an idea of secrecy, because it increases the effect of appearance the new product. Within the producing product for supporting confidentiality teams are divided into different places and they even can’t communicate to each other. The head of each team doesn’t know from the beginning how many teams are and on which projects they work. Apple made its groups “team silos” which could be negative factor but it is appeared as positive strength.
All in all, human resource management in Apple is unique. It is organized in such a way to make workforces able-bodied which direct them at achieving the certain efficient result for progressive company. This results in appearance “WOW-products” which help us “think differently”.
References
1. Walter Hamilton, Dawn Chmielewski, David Sarno. Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO but named company chairman. - Los Angeles Times, 25.08.2011
2. Shira Ovedi. Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO. - The Wall Street Journal, 24.08.2011
3. Connie Guglielmo, Dina Bass. Apple Overtakes Microsoft in Market Capitalization. - Bloomberg, 26.05.2010
4. Nick Bilton. Thoughts From Steve Jobs on Flash. - The New York Times Bits blog (bits.blogs.nytimes.com), 29.04.2010
5. Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results. - Apple.com, 19.10.2009
6. Form 8-K SEC Filing Apple Inc.- Morningstar Document Research, 10.02.2009
7. Apple Inc. and The Beatles’ Apple Corps Ltd. Enter into New Agreement. - Apple.com, 05.02.2007
8. Mark Sweney. Apple trademark dispute resolved. - The Guardian, 05.02.2010
9. Christoph Dernbach. How the Founders of Apple Got Rich. - Mac-history.net |
